Still Life
by Ironic Sauce
Summary: Life admittedly had dealt her a great hand, yet she was tired of playing the same cards over and over again.


**Title:** Still Life

**Prompt:** #78 Life, for the LJ Community Fanfic100.

**Pairing:** Cuddy centric, Huddy tones.

**Summary:** Life admittedly had dealt her a great hand, yet she was tired of playing the same cards over and over again

**A/N: **Thank you to my brilliant beta (aud-woman-in), and much thanks to (kay-lhann) for psyching me up, any mistake you find in here is my bad.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own House, Cuddy however owns his ass.

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**"Still Life"**

_Lisa Cuddy sometimes indulges in the idea of escape, of embarking on a new life for herself. _

She stepped out of her office after being paged; snow and a pile up on I95 outside Princeton resulted in a large number of victims arriving at her doors seeking medical attention, the trauma bay could use all hands on board.

For a moment, she stood watching the chaos across her ER, doctors, nurses and patients all rushing around.

Each and every one of them was her own responsibility, her patient, her employee.

The thrill of power, prevalence and authority would usually warm her, but today instead it only weighed heavily upon her shoulders and kept her still.

_How would it feel to get away from it all, from the still life she was stuck with for the past decade? _

_How would it feel to simply turn around right now, and walk out those sliding doors?_

Life admittedly had dealt her a great hand, yet she was tired of playing the same cards over and over again.

Leaning back against the counter, she closed her eyes and sighed.

_She'd hop on a plane heading somewhere warm and sunny; she'd start a new life where people didn't recognize her as Lisa Cuddy, Dean of Medicine._

_Maybe Mexico, she'd spent a wonderful holiday over there a few summers ago. She met amazing people, she tanned without burning, and her hair never frizzed._

A lanky, haggard looking intern tripped over his own feet, and the supplies he'd been carrying went flying everywhere. A bag of what appeared to be saline was ripped open right by her feet, Cuddy didn't step away fast enough and wetness began to leak into her pale blue pair of Guccis.

_As an undergrad at Michigan she'd worked an evening shift as a waitress, and while the job back then was only a necessity on her road to attaining a preeminent dream, she recalled enjoying the stress-free environment and interacting with people of different temperaments. It was part of her worldly education on human nature, and she still valued the knowledge until this very day._

_Cuddy fondly remembered the dress code of the fish 'n' chips diner, jeans, red T-shirt with a smiling lobster on the front and sneakers. No three inches of pinching stilettos involved in that job._

Cuddy had to step aside as a young woman rushed past her, evidently seeking a loved one among the emergency room's chaos. In her arms was a small, blonde girl, around the age of two, in Cuddy's estimation.

They approached the admission desk, and the child pleasantly grinned at Cuddy over her mother's shoulder. She couldn't help grinning back, when they began moving once again, the little girl waved goodbye, Cuddy returning the innocent gesture.

_Her ideal new life would also come complete with a child of her own, blue-eyed and hopefully lacking the nose genes she had been condemned with._

_She would be a model suburban mother, devoting every minute of her day to the child she longed so achingly for. She would replace her fashionable Lexus with a trusty GM family SUV, and with her typical administrative nature she would make president of PTA in no time._

_Whether she would go with soccer mom or little league mom - that was yet to be decreed, the visions of little silver trophies thrilled her heart and made it ache in equal measures._

Snapping out of this idle daydreaming and impromptu trip down memory lane, she mentally prepared herself to get back to work.

She was caught off guard when a familiar warm feeling washed over her; all of her senses came alive.

Cuddy looked up.

Her eyes caught the piercing blue gaze watching her from the second-floor lobby balcony, always following her every move.

_Her life, hectic but satisfying, challenging and engaging, had brought her precisely to where she'd worked so hard to be. She was accomplished, but in a way always stuck on being merely content, and yet…_

There was that glimpse of happiness, memories of younger and hopeful times from long ago mixed with the sweet anticipation of something more, something not quite orthodox, not nearly perfect, and certainly dysfunctional.

Life was not so still in that particular frame, her happiness was right there, and it was dressed in a red and blue pair of Nikes and leaning on a cane with flames at the base.

_Lisa Cuddy sometimes indulges in the idea of escape, of embarking on a new life for herself._

But holding his eyes at this very moment, brilliant blues met her softer gray ones, a rare, small and unexpected smile on his face, she smiled back, for at this moment there was no place else on earth she would rather be.

.**Fin**.

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Thank you for reading.

Now, Feed me back, pretty please, This is my first shot at publishing a story, reviews would be greatly appreciated.


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